Jichu yixue yu linchuang (Jun 2022)

Depressive symptoms increase the risk of falls in elderly Chinese

  • LIU Yan-li, ZHAO Rui-xue, PAN Yan, MA Ya-jun, ZHAO Tun, JIANG Xiao-yan, LI Shu-juan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.16352/j.issn.1001-6325.2022.06.027
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 42, no. 6
pp. 945 – 949

Abstract

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Objective To investigate whether depression is a potential risk factor for falls in the elderly in China. Methods Data were collected from the Subcohort of Rugao Longevity and Aging Study. Depression in the elderly was assessed by the GDS-15(Geriatric Depression Scale), and the occurrence of falls in the subjects at baseline in 2014 and the second follow-up in 2017 were collected and recorded. According to the depression status, subjects were divided into depression group and normal group, and the general information and occurrence of falls were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression was used to analyze whether depression increased the risk of falls in older adults. Results In the cross-sectional study of 1 548 subjects, the incidence of falls was 8.3%. The proportion of subjects in the “fall” group was higher in older age, lower education level and cognitive impairment. Compared with the normal group, the depressed group had a higher proportion of women, farmers, less education, unmarried, non-smokers, non-drinkers and cognitively disabled people. After adjusting for confounders, depression was associated with an increased risk of falls at baseline and 3 years later in older adults (P＜ 0.05). Conclusions Depression is a potential risk factor for falls among the elderly in the Chinese community.

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